Seakeeper under new ownership

The new ownership team, pictured from left to right: Shep McKenney, cofounder and chairman of the board of directors; Larry Gies, Madison Industries president and CEO; and John Adams, cofounder and board member

Chicago-based Madison Industries has acquired a majority stake in boat stabilization company Seakeeper, based in California, Md.

Existing Seakeeper management will continue running day-to-day operations, with Madison, led by president and CEO Larry Gies, supporting the company vision of bringing stabilization to boats 20 feet and above.

Madison Industries, which has a record of partnering with entrepreneurial companies long-term, was founded in 2003. Seakeeper chose the company after an extensive process to choose a new owner.

Seakeeper COO Andrew Semprevivo will now serve as president and CEO, running operations with engineering and manufacturing vice president Bob Moser and finance vice president Rebecca Smitha.

Seakeeper cofounders Shep McKenney and John Adams will stay onboard as minority owners and remain deeply involved in product development.

Both will be members of the board of directors, with McKenney serving as chairman.

“Seakeeper will continue to be an organization that employees want to work for, vendors want to sell to and customers want to buy from,” said Semprevivo in a statement. “Our vision, leadership and incredible worldwide team will remain unchanged. Seakeeper is committed to engineering, producing, marketing and selling industry-changing products of the highest performance and quality, backed by the absolute best customer service."

Management team, pictured from left to right: finance vice president Rebecca Smitha, Seakeeper president and CEO Andrew Semprevivo, and engineering and manufacturing vice president Bob Moser.

“We’re very proud of Seakeeper’s past and are even more excited to plan for its future,” said McKenney. “Thank you to our loyal staff, customers and vendors who have believed in our technology and our vision. It’s been 10 years since we shipped our first gyro, and we are celebrating by ensuring Seakeeper is poised for future growth and industry leadership.”

When asked what drew him to Seakeeper, Gies said: “Innovative, customer centric and oh, what a culture. We are honored to be a part of transforming the boating experience.”